Sighting of guns.



W. YOULTEN.

SIGHTING 0F Guns.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT- 10'. 1915.

1,226,.936. Patented May 22, 1917 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM YOULTEN, 0F HOVE, ENGLAND.

SIGHTING 0F GUNS.

To all whom it may concern .1

Be it known that I, VILLIAM YoULTEN, a subject of the King of England, residing at Hove, Sussex, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in or Relating to the Sighting of Guns; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. g

This invention relates to the sighting of guns and refers to that type of such sighting devices, more especially useful with rifles and machine guns and usually known as hyposcopes, which enable the gun to be sighted from cover or from a level sufliciently below the ordinary line of aim to render it impossible for the enemy to hit the head of the marksman by direct fire.

In constructing sighting devices of the before mentioned description, it has hitherto been usual to employ a suitable number of mirrors or reflecting surfaces, which in some instances havebeen constituted by. prisms for the purpose of deflecting the line of aim to the side and downward so as to enable the marksman to aim by means of the sights while at the same time keeping his head concealed from the enemy, for instance below the level of the parapet of a trench.

My present invention relates to a simple and advantageous form of hyposcope, especially suitable for use with rifles and machine guns, and comprises a single block furnished with suitable reflecting surfaces by means of which the line of sight may be deflected downward, at any desired angle. This block is mounted in a suitable casing carried in any suitable manner in connection with the rifle or machine gun, but preferably by means of a stem upon which the casing is adapted to slide so as to enable the position of the instrument to be accommodated' for varying ranges.

The block, by means of which the line of sight is reflected downward to the required angle, comprises a polished, preferably rectangular surface adapted to come opposite the sights in an approximately vertical position, the rays passing into the glass block through such surface and at right angles thereto. Inclined at a suitable angle to the Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 10, 1915.

Patented May 22, 917.

Serial No. 50,072.

lower edge of the first mentioned surface is a second highly polished surface from which the rays are totally reflected to a third highly polishedsurface making a suitable angle with the upper edge of the first mentionedsurface, to cause the rays from the second mentioned surface to be totally reflected downward at the required angle or where the critical angle between glass and air is exceeded, the thirdmentioned surface is silvered or otherwise treated to enable the rays to be suitably reflected. The rays emerge, according to the angle required, through a portion of the second mentioned polished surface.

The side surfaces of the prism do not require to be polished as they are not used for the purpose of transmitting or reflecting these rays.

Myrinvention will be understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 shows a. small arm fitted with my improved prism attachment;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the prism case showing a prism therein;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the prism case showing the cover therefor, the prism being shown in dotted lines;

Fig. 4 shows a vertical section along the line H of Figs. 2 and 3, and looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the prism detachedfrom its case.

A represents a small arm having the usual stock a, to which the band B is attached, as by means of the clamp screw Z). Hinged to 'thisband B is an arm C, to which the prism casing D is connected as by means of the clamp screw d.- The prism E is contained in the prism casing and has its three faces 6, e and e polished, the face 6 being also silvered or provided with other suitable reflecting surface. The side faces of the prism need not be polished.

The casing D is provided with an opening d to permit the light from the sights of the gun to pass through the'surface e, and with an opening d to permit the emergence of the reflected light. The top d of the prism casing is preferably in the form of a continuous plate, secured to the body of the easing as by means'of screw bolts d, see Fig. 2.

Suitable hinged doors F and F may be provided to protect the polished surfaces 6 and e respectively, from injury in transport. The door F also serves as a shade to the surface 6, while the door F serves as a the angle 2, 3, 4, being 60, the result being that the angle between 3'4t and the prolongation of the line of sight will be 60. This will enable the observer whose'eyes are at point 5, see Fig. 1, to look over the butt of the stock a so that it will not be necessary to have any lateral attachment for the observer to see the line of sight.

It will be noted that the prism is located at one side of the arm C and directly in the rear of the front and rear sights of the gun.

\Vhile I have shown a prism having the angles 30, 60 and 90, as stated, it will be obvious that other angles may be adopted without departing from the spirit of my invention. It will be obvious, however, that should the light rays strike any of the surfaces at a greater angle than the critical angle between air and.glass, it will be necessary to silver such surface or coat it with other suitable reflecting material.

l/Vhen not in use, the doors F and F are swung to a closed position and the prism is removed from the arm C. This arm may be swung down to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, when it is out of the way when the weapon is being transported; or the whole sighting attachment may be removed from the piece by taking off the band B. The prism may be placed in the pocket of the soldier and the doors F and F will prevent the polished surfaces from being scarred by grit or any other solid particles against which they might otherwise rub.

I do not claim in this application the means of attaching the prism to the piece as this is described in the claims in my copending application, entitled Sighting of small arms filed September 10, 1915, Serial #50071; but my present invention relates more especially to the prism itself, and the casing therefor.

While I have shown the prism and its oasing attached to a military rifle, it Will be obvious that it may be attached to a machine gun, such as is shown for instance in my application, Serial No. 50073, filed September 10, 1915, and entitled Sighting machine guns, and also to heavy ordnance.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a sight for guns the combination with an arm carried by the gun, in rear of but slightly to one side of the line of sight, a prism casing adjustably and detachably connected to said arm at the side thereof,

said prism casing being provided with apertures to permit the passage of light therethrough, and with hinged doors adapted to close said apertures when said prism is not in use, substantially as described.

2. A prism attachment for use in sighting guns comprising a casing with means for attaching said casing to the gun, said casing being provided with apertures to permit the admission and the emergence of the light rays coming in the, direction of the line of sight, with doors hinged to said casing and adapted to close said apertures, when desired, and a prism mounted in said casing, and adapted to reflect the light raysfrom the line of sight, at an angle downwardly in rear of the gun, substantially as described.

3. A prism attachment for use in sighting guns comprising a casing in the form of a right triangle in longitudinal cross section and provided with an opening at one of the perpendicular sides of said triangular casing and another opening in the hypotenuse of said triangular casing, with doors hinged to said casing and adapted to close said openings when the attachment is not in use, and to form, when the attachment is in use, a guard for the eyes of the marksman and a screen for the light, with a triangular prism mounted in said casing having one or more of its surfaces coated with light reflecting material, substantially as described.

In testimony'whereof, I affix my signature.

WILLIAM YOULTEN.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0." 

